Catalyst
by Tristis Lullum
Summary: Catalyst, noun. A person or thing that precipitates an event or change. [PostSeries][PreMovie][EdWin]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Guess what? I don't own FMA or any of its characters.

**Stuff:** This is not a oneshot – haha, funny, no? Anyway, I'm still not entirely sure how long it'll run, or if anybody will like it, but here's my attempt! Haha. Set roughly after the series, should Ed return Al to his body and not end up in Germany. Ha… Nazis. I love that word.

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**Catalyst**

Catalyst; _noun_.

!) _Chemistry_; a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.

2) Something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected.

3) A person or thing that precipitates an event or change.

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"It's such a nice night out," Winry sighed as the trio walked down the streets of Central. It had been a year since Edward had gotten Al's body back – though his arm and leg remained automail, a fact that Winry, although his friend, couldn't be more thankful for. At least now he still had a physical need for her. It had been a year since Edward had left the military as well – no longer needing to seek out his own methods of returning his brother's soul back to his body. After all, he could live with a metal arm and leg.

"Yeah, I guess," The teen shrugged, hands placed in his pockets. It had been Al's idea that he and Winry go out to Central for a while, catch up, and just hang out for a while. After all, Al was the more sensible of the three. But he had accompanied them, too – except where he was at the moment, Ed wasn't quite certain. They had some rooms rented at a local inn, where they were staying – and although Ed was weary of letting his little brother out of his sight for more than twenty minutes, Al managed to convince him that it was best. He was tired, anyway – or so his excuse had been. He shrugged again, staring ahead of him – where the brighter lights of Central were beckoning. He had to face it, he was tired himself, but with an excited Winry at his side, he doubted he'd have much time for sleep in the next few hours.

"So, where to next?" The teen asked, fighting back the urge to yawn. Winry tilted her head, as if in serious thought. It was times like these that Ed would catch himself staring at her, just examining how her hair fell into place, or her bangs sprawled messily over her eyes – they were due for a trim, she'd tell herself, but she never seemed to get about cutting them.

"Hm… I don't know, it's getting kind of late, maybe we should head back to the inn?"

"Sounds good…" This time he couldn't fight the yawn, and before he could catch himself, he yawned, which triggered a giggle from Winry.

"Sleepy head," She laughed, hitting him in the back of the head – promptly forcing him to fall forward and struggle to remain balanced.

"Hey, what'd you do that for, Win?" He asked, sending a glare at her. But she'd gotten used to this since he'd come home, and in a few minutes, they were laughing together.

Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of the inn, just glancing at the moon – which was so bright, that Edward knew if they weren't in Central, it would still be just as bright.

"Thanks for taking me to Central, Ed," Winry smiled, looking back at her friend. It was amazing how much he'd grown since they got back – _Since he doesn't have to be tiny to fight all of those big, bad monsters anymore_ – she'd teased him for it at first, but now it was just nice not having to look down at him. He had gloated for a while, but then he got mad when, as Winry pointed out, Al was still taller than him.

"Anytime," The other blonde said, not being much for emotional stuff – or anything short of angst, anyway. But he'd been on a much lighter note since he'd gotten home, and for that, Winry was thankful. "We'd better go inside, it's starting to get cold."

"Okay."

And that's when it all started.

From the alley down the side of the inn, a large blue spark caught Edward's attention, followed by a roughly animalistic scream. A few seconds later, a giant _thing_ – Edward had no clue what else there was to describe the blur – shot out of the alley and into the paved street.

"Shit! Winry, get inside!" He yelled as the other blonde followed orders. The creature exalted a turn on its heels and growled back into the alley. In the light, Edward had a better glimpse of whatever the thing was – _thing_ still being a very important term.

What stood before him, standing at least three feet at the shoulder, was a chimera, not unlike the one he'd seen so long ago with Cornello in Lior. He grit his teeth, examining the creature – a bulky lioness stood in the street, one long, colorless wing protruding from its shoulder, and where the tan furline receded, pale green scales took over in the dragon-like continuation of the creature. Long, muscled legs kept the creature up, laced with sharp, dagger-like claws. Five on her front paws, three on the scaled toes, and one in the back on each hind leg.

"Get her!" A man shouted from behind Edward, capturing his attention for a minute. Three uniformed men carrying semi-automatic rifles charged into the street, flanking the creature that was clearly big enough to cut them all down at their knees.

"What the hell is going on?" He demanded, his automail fist clenched, "Why the hell is a chimera in the middle of Central?"

"It's none of your business, kid," One of the bulkier, huskier men dismissed as he took aim at the creature's chest. Though the chimera remained idle, an intelligent gleam in its eyes as it sized up the three men, as if calculating how hard it would be to gun all three of them down before they did the same thing to her.

"I thought the state ceased the authorization to create chimeras after the parliament was formed!" He growled, his flesh fist clenching. The husky man looked back at him, clearly dumbfounded that a kid would know something as hush-hush as the chimera production – which was all the lioness needed. In the blink of an eye, with breakneck speed, the animal was on top of him – and in the same blur of movement, had deposited his headless body.

"Shit, I thought I was through with the likes of you," He growled, clapping his hand into his fist, creating a blade with his automail arm. "But I guess we've just gotta do this the hard way!" Just as the chimera was mauling the second man, he sprang at it, bringing his bladed own into the joint between its shoulder and the right wing on its back. The creature hissed, sputtered, then threw a large claw out at him, snagging on his pant leg before wrapping it around his metal leg.

"Brother!" Al yelled, appearing in the doorway of the inn with Winry not far behind him. He stared in horror as the lioness closed its razor-sharp claws around his leg, jerking her own paw toward her, which ripped the limb out of its socket. "Brother!" Al screamed again, grabbing the chalk he had in his pocket – he never left without it, because he needed it, should he need alchemy – and scribbled a circle on the stairs. A second and a flash of blue alchemical sparks later, thick, thirty-foot walls were encasing the chimera.

"Shit," Ed growled, returning his arm back to its normal state. "That hurt."

"What happened?" Al asked as he ran over to his brother, helping him up – his automail leg was missing completely, and his pants were ruined as well.

"That chimera," He said, motioning over to the walls, "It came out of that alley and killed the soldiers after it." From inside the cage, a roar reverberated against the walls. Alphonse helped him to the stairs, where he sat down, staring at his brother's handiwork.

"Say, not bad," He chuckled, rubbing his leg, "Looks like you've learned something."

"Brother…" Al said in a tone that suggested it wasn't funny. Edward sighed, watching the street as bystanders – the few who were out this late, or the few whom had been woken up – were staring at the monumental work of alchemy in bewilderment, cringing whenever the animalistic sounds were loud enough to penetrate the concrete.

"Ed… What _was_ that?" Winry asked, sitting next to him on the steps. A few feet away, the inn owner was chatting angrily with a man, the snippets of audible conversation reflecting things like how he was supposed to fix his reputation and the road.

"That was a chimera," He sighed, shaking his head, "It's a creature created when somebody merges two or more animals into a super creature." He stared at the crater in the road, listening to the nail-on-chalkboard screeching of the chimera trying to escape. A few minutes later, sirens rang through the street, and an armored truck pulled up in front of the inn. Military officials poured out of it, gazing in awe at the wall of concrete.

"Fullmetal?" Ed glanced up from the ground, looking at a stony-faced Hawkeye.

"Oh… Heh, hi lieutenant." She watched him for a minute as the men unloaded chains and ropes from the truck, getting ready to catch the beast. A few of the men had rifles, prepared to shoot the creature should it object.

"Would you mind?" She asked, nodding back at the concrete structure. Edward laughed a sheepish laugh – though somehow it wasn't as bright or careless as Winry had remembered it to be before tonight.

"Yeah, just tell me when."

"On the count of three, men," She called back at the men, who nodded.

"One…" They tensed, the men with the chains threw them back over their shoulders – being husky men like the first soldier earlier that night, and prepared to throw them around the beast contained in the street.

"Two…" The riflemen took aim.

"Three!"

Edward clapped his hands to the ground, collapsing the structure in the middle of the road. Shots filled the air as the riflemen tried to scare the chimera into submission – and the regal beast, with its breakneck speed and blinding agility didn't have much of a chance to escape. Chain lassos secured around whatever they could get a hold of – its neck, legs, the single wing on its back. Edward noticed the particularly nasty looking patch of white fur along its shoulder, where the other wing would have been. _Figures,_ He thought, _It must have lost its pigment when it scarred over._

The men heaved at the chains, and the riflemen shot vials of translucent blue liquid at the chimera. In ten minutes, it was resisting the urge to fight back, and was loaded into the back of the armored car.

"What was that?" Edward asked Hawkeye as she rounded up troops and prepared to bring the chimera wherever it would be taken. "In the vials, that they shot at it?"

"A special tranquilizer," She explained. "Made especially for this one. We didn't have anything strong enough before."

And with that, they left.

"Well, I'd say we'd better get to bed," Edward laughed, trying to shrug off the situation. Winry nodded somberly and headed upstairs, followed quickly by the two brothers.

"'Night," Ed called as he and Al detoured into their room, while Winry went into her own.

Though try as he might, he never got more than three hours sleep, for whenever he closed his eyes, the intelligent eyes of the chimera plagued him.

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**Other:** Well, here's chapter one. It's a little choppy, but everything will smooth out from here. Review, people! Tell me if you liked it, if you didn't, or what I could possibly change in future chapters. I always love getting your input. :3


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own FMA.

**Stuff: **Well, here is chapter two :3. Hope you guys like it. Uhh… I don't know what else to say. xD Uh, on the parliament thing – after Bradley went missing –coughcough- the rank of Fuhrer was abolished and Amestris created a parliament. Also, if anybody's up to the challenge of betaing for meee, I'd love you forever. :3

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**Catalyst**

Chapter Two:

The next day was particularly rough as well – Winry and Al set out to Central in order to find parts to make a spare leg for Edward, and he was stuck in the inn, otherwise immobile. It had taken Winry an hour to assess the damage done – which hadn't been much, or at least to the remaining part of his leg, and take inventory on what she'd need. She phoned Resembool twice, going over everything with Pinako, and eventually the two set out to the three stores they'd designated.

Needless to say, it took them four hours to get back.

"What took you so long?" Ed yawned – he'd tried to get some sleep, to make up for his lack thereof, but somehow he just couldn't sleep. Whenever he did, it was fleeting – because he'd just dream of the chimera, the huge beast that managed to slay three men, and the military, who had to cover it up before the crowd got over the initial shock of seeing such a creature.

"We had to stop by three different stores, Ed," Winry sighed, depositing the heavy looking bags on his bed. "A lot of them didn't have what I needed."

She sat down and got to work, using the few tools she had to craft the limb. Al sat down on his bed and watched his brother for a moment.

"Brother?" He asked after a minute, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah Al?" The alchemist replied without much concern, watching Winry work from her position on his bed. "What is it?"

"Some of the officers are downstairs, taking statements," He said after a moment of quietness, his chin tilted up just far enough to see his brother's reaction. "They'll probably want one from you too, Brother."

"Ehh…" He sighed, shaking his head. "Well they'll have to come up here if they want it, I can't really move very well, now can I?" He chuckled, leaning back on his bed. "I wonder how much they're paying to keep this hush-hush."

"I don't know," Al sighed this time, picking up a book on his nightstand, "Probably a lot…"

"Yeah."

It took two days of non-stop work for Winry to finish the makeshift leg, and even then they'd still have to go back to Resembool within a few days. Winry had estimated it would only work for three or four days before the wires would start to wear, so they had two more days in Central, and a third to take the train back to Resembool.

"It's too bad we have to go so soon," Winry sighed as they walked down the street to the little restaurant where they'd been having dinner during their stay. "I really wanted to see more of Central."

"Well, maybe we can come back later?" Al suggested as they went. This night, not unlike the one where the chimera appeared, was quiet and moonlit – although the silvery luminance wasn't as bright as it had been a few nights before, because the moon was slowly shrinking in size. It was earlier, and more people were roaming the street-lit road, some of them talking with others, some walking alone. One man had a briefcase and a tired expression, suggesting he'd just gotten off of work – and further down the road was a flock of four or five girls, whose giggling was audible from where Edward, Al and Winry were walking.

"Yeah, probably," Ed agreed, nodding. "But in the meantime, is there anywhere you want to go tomorrow, Win?"

"Well…" She started in a tone that Ed knew meant he was in for something he wouldn't like, "Central does have that mechanic's museum… And didn't they get an exhibit on early automail production? Oh please, Ed, can we go?" She'd spoken so fast that Edward was sure of two things; he'd only caught her last few words, and she didn't take enough breath.

"Uh… Sure, Win, if you want," This made Al laugh.

"Brother, you didn't understand a word she said, did you?" Al said between fits of chuckling. Winry shot a sharp glance at Ed, who sheepishly shrugged.

"Well, it is our last day here, so why not?" He grinned, trying to make up for his not-so-secret failure in understanding what Winry had said.

"You just can't say no to Winry, can you, Brother?" Al laughed again, grinning at his brother. Ed just stared ahead of himself, not offering any comment.

They arrived at the little restaurant a short while later, greeted by the familiar dark-wood wall paneling, the maroon carpeting, and the red tablecloths. The chairs were wound into tight ovals by beams of the same dark wood that was on the walls, and the plush seats were made of some sort of suede, dyed white.

A waitress greeted the three and brought them to a far booth, handing them their menus before walking off to the kitchen. The trio looked through them, decided what they wanted, and ordered as soon as the waitress got back.

"So… What do you want to see first at the museum, Winry?" Al asked as he sipped his water, looking at her intently. She shrugged, as if weighing the possibilities.

"I'm not sure – we could start off at the automail exhibit… But that would kind of spoil things. So maybe I'll just see what they have there?" She thought logically, nodding after she was finished.

Dinner after that was a much louder affair – the three laughed and joked and tried their hardest to forget about the chimera from a few nights before, because although none of them had voiced it, the creature had been plaguing them all. Winry had never seen a chimera – and didn't know how dangerous they could be, but from the encounter with the lioness, she knew that they weren't to be messed with.

And before they knew it, dinner was over, and they were on their way back to the inn.

"Oh," Al said quietly to himself, parting from the group – even a year after their journey had taken an end, he hadn't lost his obsession toward cats. And a particularly cute kitten had just rolled by, quite literally in the fact that it was so pudgy, it could hardly walk right. "Here, kitty kitty," He called to it as he followed it into the alley next to the inn.

"Al…" Ed warned as he went to follow his brother.

"Ah!" Al cried, stopping in his tracks.

"Al? Al!" Ed yelled after him as he ran into the alley to find his brother facing the entrance, his nose pointed in the air and a hand slapped over his eyes. "…Al, what are you doing? I thought something happened to you!"

"I'm sorry, Brother, it's just… There's… There's…."

"There's _what_?"

"A girl! And… And she's… Not wearing anything."

Both Winry and Ed could almost feel the sweatdrops forming on the back of their heads. Though, quietly, Winry walked over to where Al was pointing, his hand still covering his eyes, and nodded. "Ed, could I have your jacket, please?"

"Why do we have to take her in?" Ed asked gruffly, but took his jacket off and threw it to Winry nonetheless.

"Because, Ed, she's a little girl – and I think she's hurt," Winry knelt down and draped the red jacket over the small girl's form, then shook her shoulder gently. "Excuse me, miss?"

The girl moved her head to the side, then cracked an amber eye open, which immediately locked on Winry. In a quick movement, she attempted to get up, but slid back down the wall of the inn, her left hand clamped around her right shoulder.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Winry said politely, smiling, "It's just my friend found you here and… Oh, are you hurt?" The blonde noticed a thin trail of red liquid sliding down from between the young girl's fingers. "We'd better get you inside… I'm Winry, by the way – and this is Al, he found you," She motioned with her head to Al, "And that's Ed. What's your name?"

The small girl – who looked to be no older than nine, Winry figured – watched her skeptically for a moment, then nodded slowly. "My name's… Alice." Her voice was tiny, small and very quiet – bordering dangerously on a whisper. Though innocent enough, Winry figured; the voice a girl around Alice's age might have.

"Here," Winry helped her slide the coat on, and then extended a hand to help her up. "There's an extra bed in my room, you can stay there, okay?" She offered another friendly smile to the girl, who, standing up, reached just below her shoulders. _She's tall for her age_, Winry thought, keeping the jacket secure around the young girl as she helped her inside.

It took them a little while to get the girl up to Winry's room, because she kept stumbling and tripping along the way, as if she wasn't used to walking. When they got up to the room, Winry shooed Edward and Al off so she could find something for the girl to wear.

"How old are you?" She asked as she rummaged through her clothes, looking for something small enough to fit the girl. Eventually she came across a long-sleeved cotton shirt she'd brought, and a pair of shorts that roughly matched in color.

"Thirteen," She said in the tiny voice as she took the clothes from Winry and put them on.

"Thirteen? You look so young!" Winry remarked in disbelief as she pulled a hair brush out of her suitcase and replaced it on the floor. The girl grimaced as she put the shirt on, rubbing her shoulder in the process. "Oh, you're hurt, huh? I'll go see if Ed has any bandages, I'll be right back." And with that, Winry left her in the room.

"Hey Ed?" She asked as she knocked on his and Al's door, "Do you have any bandages? Her shoulder's hurt." She explained. Ed opened the door with a roll of cloth strips in his hand.

"Here," He said, opening the door. "But we're not keeping her."

"Keeping her? Ed you sound like you're talking about a cat," Winry frowned, pulling a wrench from her pocket to whack him over the head with. "She's a person too, and she was all alone and hurt! Are you heartless?" Glaring, she stormed back to her room.

"Sorry about that," She grinned, sitting on the bed behind Alice. The young girl just nodded and took her shirt off again - with a little trouble.

"Oh my god…" Winry gasped at the long, slender slice down her shoulder. "What _happened?_ Oh my god, and there's another one, too!" She gasped again. "You didn't get attacked by that chimera, did you?"

"So that's what it was…" The girl whispered, nodding, "She didn't mean to attack me… Just, she was scared. Of those people." Winry was quiet as she bandaged the girl's shoulder, wrapping the cloth strips around her arm and neck to keep it secure.

"There, how's that?" She asked after she was finished, examining her work for flaws.

"It's great, thanks…"

"So how did you get there? Outside, I mean – how long have you _been_ there? That chimera came by at least three days ago."

"Oh… Well, I got hurt farther back in the alley, and… I decided I'd better come out… Before my shoulder got infected. I've only been there two days…"

"Two _days_?" Winry repeated in disbelief, "Haven't you had anything to eat? To drink?"

"No," Alice said quietly, having turned to face Winry. "I'm not hungry though, really…" But her stomach seemed to have another idea, because it had already began to rumble. "Well, maybe a little…"

"Are you feeling up to going downstairs? I can just go get you something, if you want," Winry offered, but the girl just shook her head, short just-above-shoulder-length hair whipping around her.

"No, it's okay, I can come with you."

The two got Al and went downstairs, showing the girl the assortment of food they kept in the lobby. "What do you want?" Winry asked her, motioning to all the food.

"What's that?" Alice asked, pointing to a muffin.

Winry stared at her in disbelief. _She doesn't know what a muffin is? Has she been living under a rock?_ The blonde wondered as she explained, "That's a muffin."

"What's it made out of?"

"Blueberries and bread," Al explained to her, picking one up. "They're good."

The girl took the muffin carefully and sniffed it. Her nose scrunched up in response, and she handed it back. "No thanks… I don't think I like blueberries." Al gave her a perplexed look, but kept the muffin for himself.

"What about fish?" She asked after a moment, motioning over to a small tray under a lamp, with trout on it. The girl looked over to it, and assessed the food.

"What's fish?" Once again, Winry was amazed.

"Fish… It's a type of meat. They swim around."

"Oh! Fish. I like fish," The girl said and took a paper plate off of a pile, dishing herself up some fish.

It took her all of about five minutes to finish the tray, and ask for more.

"You're so thin though, you shouldn't eat so much in one sitting – you might make yourself sick," Winry tried to reason, but the girl just shook her head and demanded more in her tiny, mousy voice.

When she was finished, Winry helped her back upstairs, and tucked her into bed. "There? Is that good? Not to tight, is it?"

"You sound like my mother," The girl laughed sadly, "She always would fret about little things like that."

"Your mother? What happened to her?"

"She went away a few years ago," The young girl sighed. Winry pursed her lips.

"I'm sorry," She said after a moment, crawling into bed herself.

"It's okay," The girl reassured her, watching her as she turned off the light, and herself fell asleep. Alice, watching carefully, walked over to the window, staring out at the moon. "It's all okay." She whispered back to Winry, and in one fluid movement, was out the window.

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**Yay:** Well, that's chapter two. It was still kinda choppy too – but I smoothed what I could of it out! Yay. Betas would be so appreciated. :3 Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA.

**Other:** Hmm… Well, it took me quite a while to get this one out. Funny, huh? I'm usually so quick to get them out… But… Now I think I'll give myself some leisurely time to myself without writing chapters. Haha. Anyway.

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**Catalyst**

Chapter Three:

"Ed! Alphonse!" Winry screamed as she pounded on their door. It took all of five seconds for the brothers to dash out of the door she was pounding on, colliding into her and creating a tangle of three worried teenagers.

"Ow! Damn it Winry, what's wrong?" Ed swore as he got up, rubbing his head and his flesh arm, which had somehow hit Winry's shoulder. His eyes darted around the room, looking for something dangerous that might have been after her. "Don't do that." He said on a faintly lighter, but still aggravated tone. "I thought you were in danger or something."

"Brother," Al said as he stood up and helped Winry do the same, "Calm down. What's wrong, Winry?"

"I can't find her! She's gone!" Winry said in a panicky voice, her voice bordering once more on screaming. "I woke up, and I thought she was sleeping, but when I went to wake her up, she wasn't there!"

"Um… Who wasn't there, Winry?"

The look in Winry's eyes made Al pull back. "Alice you idiot! The little girl you found last night!"

"Oh! Her… She's not there?"

"Probably stole your wallet, too," Ed mumbled, earning him a whack on the head from the pillow Winry had subconsciously picked up, the one that had been under the covers of the spare bed, where Alice should have been. "Ow! I mean it, picking up a kid on the street. Probably stole a bunch of stuff!"

"Edward," Winry growled, "She's not like that."

"And how do you know that? We only found her last night!" The alchemist retorted, his face a few inches from Winry's. The two continued yelling, lost in their argument to the point they didn't notice the little girl walking up to them with a confused look on her face.

"What's with them?" She asked as she looked up at Al, who was watching the fight from the side-lines.

"They're always like this…" He sighed, shaking his head, "They're fighting over the fact that Winry couldn't find you… Wait," He blinked down at her. "Winry, she's right here."

"Not now Alphonse," Winry said as she began beating Edward with the pillow. The alchemist could have fought back, but chose not to, instead he blocked the pillow with his arm and swore. "I'm," She huffed as she beat him again with the pillow, "Trying to kill your brother."

"…Kill him?" Alice gulped from beside Alphonse. Winry paused, hit Ed again, then paused once more. "You're not going to kill him with a pillow… Or at least not like that, you aren't."

"Oh!" Winry dropped the pillow and looked up at the girl who had disappeared – and magically reappeared before her. She was still wearing the shirt that Winry had given her, where the sleeves were so long, they hung off her hands humorously. And the shorts that looked a little too baggy for her thin legs. "There you are. Where were you, I was worried!"

"I…" The girl paused and looked at her bare feet, "I was looking for the bathroom… And I kinda got lost."

"I'd still check to make sure you're wallet is there," Edward mumbled, shooting a glare at the girl, whose eyes perked up almost as soon as he'd said it.

"Wallet? I didn't take her wallet," The girl glared, "What do you think I am, a thief?" The girl yelled, which was surprising to Winry, because she'd been so quiet the night before. "I am not a thief!"

"Oh yeah, why don't you prove it, shorty?" Ed replied cockily, standing above the angry girl. With a whir of sandy hair and oversized clothes, the young girl had grabbed his flesh arm, and was attempting to bite it. "Hey! That's my arm!" He growled, trying to pull it out of her grip. After a few seconds, he managed, glaring at her. "What was that for?"

"For calling me short," The girl replied in her smaller, calmer voice as she crossed her arms. Winry stared for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Alice… Maybe we should get you ready, hm? We have to take a train to Resembool today, so you're going to have to go home."

The dusty-eyed girl blinked twice, as if surprised, then glanced up at Winry. "Oh… Okay, I guess."

"So, where do you live? With your dad, right?" Winry smiled at her, trying to be helpful.

"Um… No… He died a year ago." She said calmly, with no hint of grief whatsoever. Winry paused again.

"Then… Your mother?" She already knew the answer to this one, too.

"She's dead, too." Alice replied, speaking as if this were common routine, and it was every day she was asked if her parents were alive. "And I don't have any aunts… Or uncles, for that matter… And I never knew my grandparents… And I don't want to go back to an orphanage." At mention of an orphanage, she sighed. "I don't like it there."

Al was watching sympathetically, and all Winry could do was hug the girl, kneeling down on one knee to do so. "And so she grew up to be a thief…" Edward muttered, glancing down the stairwell at the lobby below.

"Brother…" Al scolded, shooting a 'not-now' glance at him, "This isn't the time for accusing her of being a thief."

"Well," Winry said as she pulled away from the thin girl. It had taken her until then to realize just how thin she was. _She's all bone…I think I could feel all her ribs…_ "You don't have anywhere else to go?"

"No," Alice sighed, shaking her head. Her tawny hair flew around her head, creating a cute, sandy halo. "I don't."

"Then you'll just have to come back to Resembool with us," Winry said in a decided tone, smiling at the girl. Alice blinked twice again, tilted her head to the side, and blinked once more.

"You mean it?" She asked skeptically, weighing each word, "You mean you're not going to drop me off at the orphanage?"

"No, silly, I'm not." She smiled at the girl again and stood up, taking her hand. "Now let's get you cleaned up, we have to be at the station in two hours."

In the background, Edward was gaping, and Alphonse was shooting him disapproving glances.

It took forty-five minutes to find more clothes for the girl, and to direct her to the bathroom in the room. _I wonder how she didn't notice that?_ Winry wondered as she opened the door for the girl. "I'll set the clothes out here, okay?"

"Mmhm," She said as she closed the door with a small click and locked it. Winry gathered some smaller clothes for the girl, clothes she knew wouldn't fit Alice right, but were the smallest things she had, and folded them outside the door. Humming, she combed her hair and set her brush down on top of the clothes.

"Everything okay?" She asked through the door, gaining her another quiet 'Mmhm' over the sound of a shower turning off. The door cracked open, and the girl reached through and grabbed the clothes. "Towels are hanging up." Winry told her as she turned back and started gathering her things.

Five minutes later, the girl emerged from the bathroom, once again in clothes too big for her. She held up her arms, palms to her face, examining the extra inch or two that hung off of her long, thin fingers.

"Oh, I'm sorry. When we get back to Resembool, I'll ask Granny if she has any of my old clothes," Winry apologized, aiding the girl in rolling up her sleeves.

"I could have done that myself," She said in her tiny, mousy voice, blinking. "It's just it's a little harder."

"Oh, it's okay. Here, Ed and Al are waiting, you can go out into the lobby with them, if you want." Winry explained as she sat on her suitcase to zip it up.

"Um… Okay," The girl slipped out the door, walking quietly down the stairs. Pausing, she searched the lobby, found Alphonse – who was clearly taller than Edward, even if the alchemist had grown, and trotted over to them.

"Winry's coming down in a minute," She explained, "She had some difficulty zipping her suitcase."

"That's okay, we still have a while to get to the station," Al smiled as he handed the key to a gruff, unpleasant looking man behind the tall counter of the inn. Three minutes later, Winry came down and did the same, and they were off.

"How long is the ride to Resembool?" Alice asked Winry quietly as they walked down the busy street of Central. People were shoving past them, eager to get to work, or school, or wherever it was they had to be. And apparently, they all seemed very late.

"Not too long… Maybe a few hours, Ed?" Winry asked, glancing at her friend to see if he had a more definitive answer.

"Yeah. Five or six hours," He said, "Four and a half if things go well." He paused, giving Alice a weird look. "Why?"

"I was just curious," She smiled a toothy grin, "That's all."

When they arrived at the station, they paid for the four tickets – three adults, one child – and boarded the train, which at the time had ten minutes to gather all of its passengers.

"I've never been on a train before," Alice commented with excitement evident in her mousy, quiet voice, "It seems comfortable enough."

"Wait until you've sat here for the first half of the ride," Al laughed, "Brother hates trains, don't you, Brother?"

"Yeah," Ed replied gruffly, "I hate them." The train whistled, and with the loud chugging that trains often make, it departed from the bleak station and into the vast countryside of the outskirts of Central. Dull brown hills rolled past them, with colorful leaves – getting ready to change and fall for autumn and winter. The sky was clouded, as if it was going to rain, and small flecks of water were already dotting the window.

"Want to read something?" Winry asked Alice as she pulled out a book from her bag, "It'll be some time before we get there." She smiled, nodding at the girl.

"Okay," She took the book, and flipped to the first page, curling up on the bench beside Winry. But she was only ten pages in before the book slipped from her hands, and she fell over on Winry's shoulder, sound asleep.

--

**Stuff:** Well, this one went along a little better. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm not used to writing stories much longer than a chapter or two with Ed, Al or Winry… So how'd I do? Kept them in character? And I'm estimating it would take that long on a train… I've never really been on one, nor do I know how far Central would be from Resembool… But okay. Your input always helps. :3 Review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA. Yup.

**Other:** Um… Well… Uh… Chapter four, folks. Chapter four.

--

**Catalyst **

Chapter Four:

"Six hours until we have to switch _trains_?" The usually quiet girl nearly shrieked. Her bony arms wrapped around herself as she started pacing, her loud footsteps swallowed up in the crowd of busy people. Her travel buddies were giving her odd expressions, ranging roughly around annoyance – from Ed – and concern from both Winry and Alphonse. "You just said it would be six hours," She said more rationally, her loudness evaporated from her system, leaving her voice at a whisper that the three friends had to strain to hear over the busy commotion.

"It's not that bad," Alphonse offered, smiling. "Really, you slept most of the way here, anyway, it shouldn't be that hard to fall asleep on this one."

"It's not that," She pondered, tapping her chin with a long, spidery finger. "Six hours here… How long there?" She asked, continuing to tap her chin with her index finger. "If it's less than five…"

"It's an over-night train," Winry said, "I think it's ten." The mousy girl stopped in her tracks, pacing quickly forgotten, instead occupying herself with giving Winry a terrified glance.

"It can't be that long," She tried to rationalize with herself. Amber eyes shifted to the ground, and she began pacing again. "No, that's irrational, Resembool can't be that far…"

"We'll have to take a shorter train after that – only an hour and a half," Winry tried to soothe the obviously troubled child. But she wouldn't listen to reason, and instead made calculations under her breath. "Really, trains aren't that bad. Why are you so afraid of them?"

In the background, a whistle blew, and one of the trains departed from the station. The next train, which would arrive in fifteen minutes, if all went well, was the train the four would disembark on. "I'm not afraid of them, I just don't like them," A rush of people pushed past the four as they clambered to get away from the station. A few looked extremely busy, which was to be expected. Few wore business suits, however, and even fewer of the occupants of the station were children, which attracted passing glances at the already nervous child. "I just… Don't like being in one place very long."

"Neither does Ed," Winry laughed, wrapping an arm around the girl. During the ride, Winry had confiscated Edward's coat to use as a blanket for the sleeping tawny-haired child, which he reluctantly, and after a bit of prodding from his brother, gave up. The dulling red coat was still draped around the child's shoulders, even after she had woken up. "You should see how impatient he gets on trains."

Amber eyes glanced at Edward, who was tapping his foot, obviously angry that they hadn't left yet. Winry patted her shoulder, leading her closer to the edge of the platform. "It'll be okay, just wait; you'll see." She offered a smile to the girl, keeping a firm arm around her as the train whistled on the tracks. The locomotive pulled into the station, flaunting it's exaggerated length with cabin cars and luggage ones, all the same. "See. It's not bad," The woman motioned to the locomotive with a nod of her head. "I'm sure you'll be asleep within the first hour." She laughed a pleasant laugh again, making the girl shiver, despite the jacket she was wearing.

"That's what you think…" Alice examined the luggage cars as workers piled the suitcases into them, amongst the other things that had already been gathered. Examining further, she realized there were even large cages, with sheep herded into them. "That's… Odd. Sheep? On a train?"

"Yeah silly, now come on, we don't want to be late," They handed off their suitcases to the gentleman working on the platform and boarded the train. Settling into the cabin, Edward pulled out a book, suspiciously like the one Alice had been reading, and ignored the three others in the cabin. It wasn't long that Alice, once again, had fallen asleep, leaving Winry and Al to their conversations.

"So where do you think she came from?" Alphonse asked, looking at the sleeping girl. Her head was propped up against Winry's side in a comfortable looking way. But unlike most children, she seemed to lack the angelic innocence that many had while they slept. A long, thin arm had slipped off of the bench, and her fingers were dangerously close to grazing the floor.

"I don't know… She wouldn't tell me that much about herself, all I know is that her parents are dead… And she's been to an orphanage before," Winry sighed, fixing Edward's coat on her. "I think she might have run away."

"It would make sense," Alphonse added, "If she ran away… I don't think an orphanage would let her go without a guardian," He watched her for a moment as she tried to turn on the bench, nearly lost her balance, and almost fell. Winry had to lean over and right her before any more damage could be done. "And she's so thin."

"Mmhm," Winry sighed, helping the sleeping girl right herself again, "Her fingers are so long… Have you noticed that? Her arms are, too," She gently pulled the hanging arm from it's position to demonstrate. "They're longer than mine, and she's so small."

"It could just be genetics," Alphonse pointed out, but somehow, it didn't seem right that genetics would make just her arms and fingers longer. "Or maybe she had a disease?"

Winry frowned, but nodded. "Maybe…"

At that moment, the food cart stopped before their seats. A young woman with soft blonde hair smiled at the four. "Can I get you anything to eat?" She asked, "To drink? A paper?"

"Mmfh," Edward mumbled from behind his book, "Can I get a paper?" He pulled out his wallet, handing some money to the woman. She smiled and handed him his paper before asking them if they wanted anything else.

"I'd like some water," Winry's frown deepened, "I should probably get Alice something too…" Righting the girl, she shook her shoulders gently. Amber eyes snapped open and found Winry's face, holding an alertness to them that Winry had never seen before, especially in a girl so young. " Alice… Is there anything you want to eat?"

"Milk," She said quietly, but not without a well-mannered tone, "Please."

The woman handed a glass bottle of milk over, and Winry handed her some more money. Deciding on not having anything herself, she allowed Alphonse to order what he wanted; which he politely declined, and glanced over at Alice, who was gulping down her milk. "Heh, slow down, you'll get sick if you drink too much at once," She laughed as the girl paused, seemed to contemplate this, then went back to chugging. In a few seconds, the entire bottle was downed, closed, and set beside her. " Alice," Winry started, fumbling for words. It wasn't everyday you asked somebody why their arms and fingers were so long, or if they were sick, which made her a little uncomfortable. "Al and I noticed how long your arms were," She paused, "Are you okay?"

Alice blinked twice, frowned for a moment, then burst out laughing. Winry was completely dumbfounded, and Alphonse just stared. "Ha… Oh, well I have a mild form of Marfan's syndrome," The girl laughed again, "Nothing serious, it just makes my limbs long… The doctor said I was lucky, because if it had been any more serious, I might have had heart defects."

Alphonse nodded, "I think I've read about that before, doesn't it have something to do with the elasticity of the bones?" The girl nodded.

An hour passed, and Alice had fallen asleep again. Edward had discarded the paper for a moment, until something caught his eye, and he looked at it again.

"Damn it," He muttered, showing the article to his brother. "I bet the military is going to have fun trying to cover that up."

"Covering what up, Ed?" Winry asked worriedly, walking over to glance at the newspaper. The headlines exclaimed in bold, _'Mutants Attack in Central'_. She frowned. "Are they…?" She left her sentence, glancing up at Edward. "Are they more chimeras?" She half-whispered, eyes wide.

Edward just nodded soberly. "I'm afraid so," Though his calmer attitude was starting to dissipate, becoming replaced by an angrier one. "The military is still performing experiments on them, even now," His fist clenched on his knee. "All for war."

Alphonse nodded sadly. "Brother… It says some of them have been spotted outside of Central too," He pointed to a section of the article, "Some are in Ishbal and Lior."

"Damn it," He growled, tightening his fist around the glove on his hand. "Don't they understand that it's wrong?"

On the other bench, Alice stirred, yawned, then sat up to see what all the commotion was. "What's wrong?" She asked sleepily, righting herself. Large eyes focused on her hands, where a finger twitched.

"The military is making more chimeras," Edward explained, sure it would go right over the girl's head, "And some of them are attacking Lior."

"Chimeras…" The girl whispered, pondering, "That was what the thing by the inn was, wasn't it? She was a chimera?" Edward nodded, the fist over his knee loosened, and his fingers felt the make-shift leg in place of his automail. "She got your leg, didn't she?" The girl asked, motioning to him.

Edward blinked, then nodded. "Yeah… How did you know?" The blond raised a suspicious eyebrow, staring at the girl.

She, however, only shrugged. "But it's automail," From the look on his face, she only smiled, "I can smell the oil." Her smile turned into a toothy grin. "That, and you always keep touching your left leg."

The next three hours went on with Alphonse talking to Edward about the chimeras, and Winry trying to discourage them from running off to Lior to help fix the military's mistake. "You're not a state alchemist with them anymore," Winry fumed, glaring at Edward, "You shouldn't have to fix their screw ups!"

"But people are getting hurt," He said quietly, the newspaper folded in his hand, "We can't just sit here and let this happen!"

"Let them take care of it, Edward, please," Winry plead, her eyes softening. "Look what that one did to your leg! If you go out there, who knows what could happen? I don't want to have to fit you for automail again."

"Nothing will happen, Winry," He replied sternly, shifting his eyes to look at the rainy haze outside the window.

"I'm going to go on a walk," Alice said in her small voice. Had the two not been arguing, Winry was certain she wouldn't have heard the girl's tiny voice.

"Do you want someone to go with you?" Alphonse asked politely, looking at the thin girl who was already escaping from the benches. She only shook her head, tawny hair flying around her ears as she hurried down the aisle.

"I might be gone for a while," She laughed over her shoulder, speaking up so the siblings and their friend could hear her, and wouldn't worry.

Though it was two hours, and she hadn't come back yet.

"I'm going to go look for her," Winry decided, crossing her arms as she got up. Edward gave her a unconcerned look, and shook his head.

"Winry, she's fine," He assured her, "She probably got caught slipping a wallet out of somebody's purse and…"

"Brother," Al warned.

Edward just grinned sheepishly. "It's a train, Winry, she probably got lost or something. She doesn't seem to have a head for direction." He shrugged again and went back to reading his book.

"I'll help you, Winry," Alphonse smiled as the two went off in search of the girl.

--

**Stuff:** Ha! I left off there for fear of making this chapter extremely long. Hmm… It's not really a cliffie, is it? I dunno… But if it isn't, here are some questions to ponder! Will they find her? Did she fall off the train? Or has she been abducted? Dun dun dun… Review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA.

**Other:** I seem to have an obsession for hurting myself unintentionally. Hm… The third joint in my left index finger keeps bothering me, and I just had to pop my forearm right. It… Hurt. Now I'm gonna write this while I wait for it to swell up. Also! The plotline of FMA as you knew it… Yeah it just exploded. Sorry. xD; Well not so bad… But oh well. Good luck figuring this out. –hugs-

--

**Catalyst**

Chapter Five:

Rain was pouring on the roof by the bucketful. Drops came down in such rapid succession that the tin ceiling produced a muffled, hollow roar that never seemed to cease. The air was damp, and held an almost sticky quality – as if it had been kept in a container of sugar with just enough water to douse it, but not enough to dissolve it. The walls were crumbling under the pressure and lack of maintenance, leaving gaping holes in the off-white plaster. Rot filled the air, and a lone snake had taken a liking to the far, debris filled corner of the room.

"Now, now," A snide voice cut through the damp air, filling the natural silence with something to chew on. "That's just like I told you to." The voice came from a dark figure in a corner, clothed in a long, sweeping velvet cloak of only the darkest shade. A young woman sat in the middle of the cold concrete floor, drawing carefully a circle on the floor. "Just like that," The voice reassured, "Just keep drawing."

"Are… Are you sure this will get me what I want?" The young woman called in a harmonic voice, utterly pleasing to any male ear. The cloaked figure just let a disgruntled chuckle. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the pointy white teeth of the hooded figure's grin, an eerie contrast against the black void that was leaning close to the snake's corner. "Are you sure…?" The woman's voice was unsure, which made the cloaked figure's shoulders stand rigid. Recognizing this, she shook her head and continued to draw.

"Yes, I'm sure," The voice replied quietly, confidently, though with an air of disturbance to it. Did this girl really think she was getting it wrong? A laugh erupted from the corner, cold and clammy just like the remains of the city outside. "Positive, actually." This time it was more reminiscent, as if searching its memory for a thought or a far-off memory.

"Mmhm," The woman gulped quietly, filling in the remaining places of the circle with the black paint she was working with. "If you say so." After the circle was complete, she gave the hooded person a skeptical look. "Will I really be immortal… After this?"

"Yes, of course… But it is a two step process," A pale, muscled arm extended from the hem of the cloak, throwing a small stone toward the girl. It slowed then tumbled near the black paint as thunder cracked overhead, and another thin stream of lightning lit up the dim room. The stone shone bright red from the light source. The girl's lightly tanned hand picked the stone up, examining it.

"Where'd… Where did you get this?" She asked quietly, her voice full of subdued enthusiasm and surprise. "I didn't…"

"Surely you don't think I'd step back on my word," The cloaked figure chuckled. "As I was saying… First, you must make the body. And then you must attach the memories." The figure, with one effortless push of its shoulders, removed its body from the wall and floated easily to the woman. In a fell swoop, it kneeled down and protruded the same pale arm, resting it firmly on her bare shoulder. "This… This you must implant."

Grey eyes widened as knowledge passed before them, memories of a woman… Taller than she was, with long, flowing hair that rested just below her waist. A sultry voice came with the woman, and her actions and personality unfolded from the memories of the hooded figure before her. Shortly afterward, the pale hand retreated back within the heavy cloak, and the eerie, toothy grin was illuminated by more lightning.

"After you implant this… You'll be set for life, hon," The hooded figure turned, faced a large blistering hole in the abandoned hospital's wall, and shifted its head toward the woman. "Don't forget your ingredients, we can't have you dying, now can we?" A twinge of humor laid within the figure's voice, but the woman paid no mind, instead she busied herself with retrieving the heap of materials in the corner. A powdery pile rested in a shallow pan, measured with the utmost care.

"Do take care," The voice raised its hand in a waving gesture as it slid through the uneven hole in the wall and into the forest behind the forgotten building.

"Hmph," The woman remarked as she sat the ingredients down, poking the edge of the circle to make sure it had dried. "Perfect…"

Stepping carefully over the lines, the blonde knelt down at the edge, gripping the discarded red stone in her left hand. "I hope this works…" She whispered, "They said it would… And with you," She opened her fingers, looking at the fairly sized stone in her hand, "I'm sure it will."

She placed the stone just outside the circle, and with a deep breath, clapped her hands and forced them down on the painted equation. Golden light flowed from beneath it, circling around it and rising up to the ruined tin ceiling of the building. It swirled, adjusted the materials it was granted, then turned a crimson as the stone near its border became active.

"It's working!" She gasped in awe as the pan of chemicals wove into the air, spiraling and twisting as they eased themselves into a different form. She bit her bottom lip in concentration, making sure she got the woman the cloaked figure had shown her perfect. Pale skin outlined dark lips and even darker hair paired with the skin. The woman was tall, and the alchemist couldn't help but notice the curved the doll-like creation was taking on. "Almost there…"

The woman's body settled in the center of the circle just as the blood-hued light took a turn for a magenta, then dark violet color. "What?" The blonde alchemist gasped, her grey eyes wide in shock. "But… No! I have the stone, this can't be!"

The woman gasped again as a large stone monument appeared before her, carvings of people and other things she couldn't begin to describe on the sides of the great doorway. With a creak, it opened, and millions of eyes met her own wide, fearful grey ones. "No… No!" She screamed as the thin black arms lashed out with amazing speed, clinging onto her wrists, her ankles, and her waist. "No!" She struggled against them, but the slow creep of the arms was too much to fight against, and the gate closed with a satisfying creak.

"Well, well," The cloaked figure had returned, a smirk on its hidden face. It floated to the edge of the now dormant circle, the stone at the edge dissolving into a liquid, and a reddish gas appeared above it. "What a _shame_," It laughed, glancing at the woman in the middle of the circle. "Now, put some clothes on," It laughed as it threw a dress at the woman, who had just opened her violet eyes.

"Isn't it _great_ to be back?" The voice laughed as the pale hands removed the hem of the hood, pulling long, spikes of green hair from the velvet fabric. "Hm… Lust?"

--

**Just a Note:** Oh noes, look what I did! I brought Lust back! Anyway, as you probably got by now… This didn't take place on the train, haha. Anywho, my theory is that the sins, just linger in the gate until they can be reborn, since they would have "already" been reborn across the gate when their original forms died. And yes, folks, that is _the_ Lust. Shorter chapter… But you get the point, no? And the plot thickens… Review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA.

**Stuff:** Vivvaaa Las Vegas! Ha, I love this song. And I'm listening to it now. Hm… Anyway, getting things back on track, sorry for the wait. I decided I should give you some time before I updated, haha. Figures.

--

**Catalyst**

Chapter Six:

"Alice?" Alphonse called as he glanced behind the last bench in the car. "She's not here."

"Excuse me, miss?" Winry asked a young woman sitting with a man, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry, but have you seen a little girl? She's about this tall," Winry indicated with her hand, "And she has blonde hair… No? Okay, thank you." They traversed to the next car, which was for livestock. A cluster of sheep in a corner of the car welcomed them with their enthusiastic baaing as they slid the door open.

"I don't think she's in here," Winry mused, glancing around. Straw littered the floor of the car, and farther off there were a few goats. Piles of the straw huddled up to the cages, creating mounds around them. Sighing, Winry trudged forward through the yellow stalks of dried vegetation and looked inside and around the cages. "Alice?"

Alphonse helped her, looking skeptical as he plowed through the bedding of straw himself, peering into the cage with the sheep.

"Oop, here she is," Winry said in disbelief, laughing. The girl was curled up on a bed of straw, her hand inside a smaller cage with kittens, her finger absently stroking one while she slept. "She sleeps all the time, that can't be healthy," Al walked over and chuckled at the girl who was asleep on the straw.

"I bet it's more comfortable than the benches," He laughed again, leaning down to pick her up. After a second of adjustment, she was on his back, her head lolling against his back. Winry walked ahead of him, opening doors and warding off odd glances with her own icy glares. It took them a while, but they made it back to the bench, getting a curious glance from Edward.

"You found her," He said, raising an eyebrow. "And there's straw in her hair."

Al sat her down on the bench opposite him and his brother, allowing Winry to pull the stray stalks of straw out of her hair. The girl stirred for a moment, yawned, then made an effort to make herself comfortable. Though every few seconds she'd get a frustrated look on her face, fidget, pause, then repeat the cycle. Winry patted her head, smiling apologetically.

"So what happened? Somebody catch her with their stuff so they threw her in with the sheep?" Edward suggested, an amused look on his face. "I could see that happening."

"Edward Elric!" Winry nearly screamed, standing so suddenly, and attacking him so quickly the people sitting around them and passing by had to stop and see what happened. Edward laid, sprawled across his brother with his leg twitching, a large goose egg forming on his head. Winry stood, frowning angrily, a wrench clenched in her hand.

The girl on the bench stirred again, clenched her hand into a fist and hit the nearest thing to it, which was the back of the bench. Sitting up groggily, she rocked, shaking her hand, a frown mirroring Winry's own. "No wonder I'm always sleeping," She speculated, giving Ed a weird look, "He's always accusing me of stuff that I don't do when I'm trying to rest," Her frown deepened and her hand was turning a faint shade of pink.

"I'm sorry about him," Winry smiled lightly as she sat down, examining her hand. "He's just sour that he has to get a new leg."

"So that's what it is?" Alice asked, blinking. Ed had recovered and sat up, rubbing his head and shooting a glare at Winry. "Do you always hit him in the head with wrenches?" She motioned to the wrench in Winry's hand, a slender eyebrow arched in curiosity.

"Oh, heh, only when he's being a jerk," She smiled.

The train pulled up to the small station outside of Resembool, and they switched trains, riding in relative silence for the hour and a half. Their train pulled to an even smaller station, one that was bare and void of human life. Alice sniffed as she got off the train, examining the countryside.

"So you live in the middle of nowhere?" She asked, crossing her arms. "That's… Different."

"There's a town up ahead, silly," She laughed, lugging her suitcase up the hill. The three followed her quietly, Alice examining the rolling hills, green with handfuls of tanning grass, as winter would be coming in a few months. Farmers smiled and waved at them, some of them asking who their friend was, but otherwise things were relatively straightforward. Eventually, over the crest of a hill, a large yellow house appeared, and Alice stared at it.

"Is that your house?" She asked, noting the sign in front of it, something about automail, but she was too far away to make out anything more. "An automail shop?"

"Mmhm," She grinned. "Who else would Ed go to if he was hobbling around on one leg?"

"Hey…" He protested from behind them, but left off there as they made it to the porch. Alphonse smiled at Alice as the boys went inside, trudging up the stairs before waving to an old woman who came glancing out the door for her absent granddaughter.

"Winry," The old woman said sternly, glancing at the small girl who was staring at her, wide-eyed and fretful. "Who's this?"

Winry twitched, pulled the girl out from behind her, and placed a hand tentatively on her shoulder. "Granny, this is Alice," She explained, "She's from Central."

"Hello Alice," The old woman said, bordering roughly on politeness, though Alice wasn't entirely sure. "I'm Pinako Rockbell," The woman turned her attention back to Winry. "You'd better get your stuff upstairs." Though her tone suggested that she wanted to talk to Winry later. The young blonde shrugged it off, motioning for Alice to follow her upstairs.

"You can stay in the guest room for now," She smiled, showing the girl into a room. There was a small bed in the corner, a window in the center of the far wall, and that was about it. "Sorry if it's a little bare," She laughed, "We usually don't have that many guests."

Alice nodded and sat on the bed, staring at the girl in the doorway, "My room is just down the hall, Pinako's is, too. On the other end of the hall is Ed and Al's, and Rose's," Alice blinked. "Rose is a nice woman, you'll meet her soon," She gave a warm smile and left the room, leaving the door open.

After everybody had settled in, Winry had gone into the workshop to start Ed's leg. Alice, growing bored at having nothing to do, decided to watch her shape the metal and work on the complex circuitry.

"So how does it work?" She asked after a moment, observing the thin red and blue wires that Winry was connecting to the ball of the joint and encasing in expertly curved metal. Winry smiled and explained that the limb was connected to the nerves, and the wires she was connecting now acted as artificial nerves, sending the impulses down to the specified joint that needed to be moved.

"That way he'll have full use of the leg," She finished, smiling, "It's the most advanced prosthetic out there." Alice nodded and went about quietly watching the blonde teen work away, abandoning the leg every so often to grab a different tool, or walk across the room to gather more parts.

Alice helped with small things, getting toolboxes for her when she needed something and didn't have it. Though she soon grew bored again, and decided to help clean the room, which was cluttered with bits of metal, wires, and screws of different sizes and widths. Gathering the items, she found different draws and cubbies that were labeled with letters in numbers in sequence. Frowning, she opened each up, measured the screws to the ones in the draws, and started sorting them out.

"You don't have to do that," Winry said from her work, "I've been meaning to clean this place for a while now."

"It's okay," The girl said quietly, "I have nothing else to do anyway. It's kind of fun."

"If you say so," She laughed, finishing up her work on the leg, or at least what she would do that day. Pinako knocked on the door, opened it, and announced that dinner was ready. The two girls found Edward and Alphonse already at the table, accompanied by a woman with fawn-like hair and bangs of a faint pink shade. Alice blinked as she stared at the woman's hair.

"Is your hair naturally that color?" She asked, curious. The woman smiled shyly at her and explained. Pinako had set a large pot at the center of the table. Small glass bottles of milk were also on the table, for them to fill their glasses. Edward's, she noticed, had water instead.

"You should drink your milk, Ed," Winry scolded, "You'll stay that short forever if you don't."

"What are you talking about?" He nearly screamed, "I'm taller than you are!"

"You're still short for a man," Winry mumbled, turning the look on Edward's face from anger to absolute rage.

"Brother, calm down," Alphonse said calmly as his brother turned dejectedly to his food, frowning as he spooned up some stew, muttering things Winry could only hear bits and pieces of, which was composed of language not fit for a dinner table.

Afterwards, Winry suggested that Alice go to bed and she did, trudging up the stairs quietly before closing her door with a faint click. Pinako waited a moment as Edward retreated back up the stairs as well, and Alphonse helped clean the dishes.

"She didn't have a home," Winry said quietly after a moment, staring down at the dish she was scrubbing. "She was all alone… And with those monsters roaming on the streets…"

Pinako made a gruff sound around a pipe in her mouth, "Those stupid dogs of the state can't seem to keep their noses out of trouble," Apparently the woman had heard about the chimeras.

"She had already been attacked by one," She added, motioning to her shoulder, "It cut her up pretty bad… It's amazing that she survived." She remained quiet for a while, working on washing out the large pot that had served the stew, "You have to let her stay, Granny, she said her parents are dead… And she doesn't have anywhere else to go."

The woman made another noise around her pipe and turned the water off, placing the dishes on a rack to drip. "She can stay," The woman nodded, "But she'll have to earn her keep, I've already got enough slackers living under this roof." She motioned up the stairs, her indications toward Edward. After the dishes were finished, Alphonse went back upstairs, Pinako disappeared up them as well, and Winry made her way into the workshop.

--

**Other:** Well, this chapter was kind of short, too. Really just filler. Interesting stuff will start happening soon, I promise! But I figure you need some time to recuperate from last chapter's oddness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA.

**Stuffs:** Well, sorry for the long wait, I'm not sure why it took so long to get this chapter out… Maybe 'cause I'm watching Blood plus on a regular basis, and trying to work plots in my head, and juggle my balancing act of life… Hmmm… Maybe? No? You don't think so? Okay. Well, here it is, anyway.

--

**Catalyst**

Chapter Seven:

It took a full week for Alice to figure out where exactly she fit in the scheme of things at the Rockbell house. Winry, she learned, worked every weekday from nine to seven in her workshop, taking only an hour long break for lunch, and enough time to diagnose the problem in her customer's automail. Alice sat in the sidelines, watching with curiosity at the art of mechanics – though she couldn't seem to pick up very much of it. Winry only asked her to pass her certain tools that she needed, or get her certain wires, all of which had small black lettering on the sides telling what they were for. She didn't learn the language of the wires, but she did get to know their names, at least.

Edward did a lot during the day as well, though not all of it was helpful. He'd wake up early, with the sun, almost – Alice was usually up by this time, because she napped a lot during the day – but read for a few hours. Or at least she figured he did, because staring at the ceiling for three hours wasn't really a pass time of choice for anybody. Though the books he smuggled into his room before he went to bed, seemingly unnoticed, was good fodder toward her theory. After that, he'd come downstairs and gripe about breakfast, and Winry would have to take a break from her work to help Pinako fix something. Sometimes he'd get his own food, but it wasn't very often.

After that what he did was often quite random. He'd go on long walks, where he'd come back sometime around lunch and demand more food. Winry would always crack jokes about how he couldn't sit still, and they'd usually get into a verbal spar. Sometimes it would get so bad, Alphonse would have to break them up for fear of one of them breaking something.

Alphonse and her had become pretty good buddies over the week, since Winry was always busy working on her automail, and Edward was always off reading or walking, otherwise not wanting to be disturbed. Not wanting to talk to Pinako for fear of the woman, Alice had shied closer to the younger Elric and the two managed to find something to do. Sometimes they'd clean, or help Pinako and Winry with customers, or cook lunch when Winry was too busy to. Al was a pretty good cook, Alice had to admit, but she was lacking heavily in the department, so proclaimed herself instead the table setter, which she was much better at than cooking. Everything had fallen into a nice routine, something comfortable, predictable.

Except for today.

Saturday morning, Alice woke up, obviously expecting to help around the house with chores with Alphonse, or shadow Winry for the day, but that was dashed the second she walked downstairs. The house, she'd noticed when she woke up, was uncharacteristically quiet. There were no loud bangs, shouts, worried customers, or surgery clients at all. Instead, an eerie hush fell over the house. Alice blinked, looking around at the barren table.

"Where is everybody?" She asked the boy sitting at the table, who had been reading and hadn't noticed her walk up. The slender girl pulled a chair out for herself and plopped down in it with a unbecoming thump.

"Oh, Brother took Winry out today," Alphonse said, marking his page with the little ribbon attached to the spine. When he put the book down, there was a mischievous, if not satisfied, smile on his face. Alice arched an eyebrow.

"Took her out? What about his leg?" She asked, blinking again. Didn't he have to get a new one…? Didn't that take a while? Alphonse laughed good-heartedly at the small frown on her face.

"They attached his leg this morning, I'm surprised it didn't wake you up." Alice blinked again, her head cocking a few degrees to the side. "He's usually very quiet about it… Maybe it was just because he had to wake up earlier than he usually does."

Alice had decided she didn't want to learn the gory details of attaching automail, so she shifted the topic of conversation to the idea of Edward taking Winry out anywhere. "So… Does that mean he likes her? To take her out?" Alphonse's smile only grew.

"They've both liked each other for quite a while," The boy laughed lightly. "They're both just too stubborn to admit it."

Alice's already raised eyebrow curved a little more. "So you had something to do with this?" She already knew the answer from his boyish grin. Shaking her head, she stood up, surveying the room. "Where's Pinako?" She hadn't taken to calling her Auntie or Granny, it just seemed too weird, so the small girl called her by her name.

"She's out getting supplies," The boy answered, "She'll be back by dinner."

The tawny-haired girl frowned, crossing her pale arms loosely across her ribs. The rooms were fairly clean, so touching them up was a possibility, but wouldn't consume all of her time… And they were the only ones at the house, except for… Rose? "Is Rose here?" The girl asked, not looking at Alphonse as she crossed the room, looking for something to clean up.

"No, Rose went with Pinako," The girl frowned again.

"Darn." She mumbled, looking at the empty sink. "Now I don't have anything to do." With a sigh, she crossed the room again and began righting the chairs at the table, straightening them so their curved backs touched the wood. With every chair aligned to her liking, except Al's, which he was still using, she went to go clean the workshop.

--

"It's such a nice day," Winry said as she stretched her arms above her head. The sun was out, a rare exception for the usually rainy week, and the few clouds in the sky were white and fluffy, instead of grey and heavy. "Don't you think?" The young woman looked at her companion, who only made a gruff noise in response. Winry, however, chose to ignore this, and instead continued looking at the crystal blue sky.

It was all Al's fault, the alchemist had decided. If it hadn't had been for Al, he wouldn't have been out here with Winry, walking. Sure, he liked walking, but his walks were preferred with no strings attached, and with Winry, there were a lot of strings. Al had convinced him to ask Winry to go on a walk with him, which initially wasn't something he wanted to do. But, his brother had threatened him that if he didn't ask her, he was going to tell Winry about the particularly embarrassing conversations he had with himself in his sleep. Edward, who had absolutely no clue that he didn't talk in his sleep, finally obliged and asked the blonde to walk with him.

She'd been ecstatic at the proposal to go on a walk with him, and that's when everything bad started. He'd already been grumpy because he had his leg connected, though it had been a good deal of time since the event. Enough to persuade Winry to walk with him, at least. She said it'd be good for him to get used to the new leg. Edward, satisfied that the walk would probably be short anyway, was about to head out the front door when Winry stopped him. In her hands was a large basket.

So, of all things, he was going to have a picnic, with Winry.

Today just couldn't get better.

"Hm, what about here, Ed?" The blonde mechanic indicated to a shady spot along the river. Edward gave another gruff sound in reply and sat unceremoniously by the tree. Winry sighed, set down the basket and spread the blanket out along the grass, pulling the basket close to unload the goodies it had inside.

--

"What now?" The girl plopped down on one of the wooden chairs for the second time that day, boredom etched across her features. "I've cleaned the workshop, organized the tools… Made beds… Cleaned the backyard…" The girl continued on with her list to the boy who was sitting across from her, laughing to himself as she continued on. "There's nothing left to do."

Alphonse shrugged from across the table, setting his book down again. The house was a little quiet, now that his brother and Winry had gone out for the day. And without Pinako unleashing orders upon the two teens, there wasn't much to do.

"I washed the dog… I fed the dog… Again…" Alice continued as the boy tapped the table with his finger, trying to come up with an idea of what to do to entertain them both. He had no problem with reading all day, but Alice, he could tell already, was a little like his brother in the aspect that neither could sit still for too long. "I cleaned the windows…"

"Hm… Brother and I used to spar every time he got his automail fixed," The boy said, rather to himself than anybody else, "It's still pretty strange that we don't do that anymore." The girl looked up at him, amber eyes interested.

"Why did you spar?" The girl asked, not bothering to cover up her curiosity.

"Our teacher used to say that to train the mind, you must train the body," The boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "It was just kind of a tradition of ours."

"Oh…" Alice paused, "Who won?"

"I did." Al laughed, remembering, "Brother always lost, but I guess I did have an unfair advantage over him…" The boy trailed off, and although Alice was curious to know what the advantage was, didn't ask.

"So why don't you spar anymore?" She asked instead, still very curious about the brother's antics.

"We don't really need to, I guess," Alphonse replied in a brighter tone than he'd used to just beforehand, "When we used to spar, it was when brother was a state alchemist…" Al noticed the girl visibly twitch in front of him, "But he isn't one anymore, so there really isn't a need to keep at it. I mean, we spar sometimes… Just not as much."

"Your brother was a state alchemist?" The girl had completely come off of the sparring topic, and onto the new one involving Edward. "But he's so young…"

"Mmhm," Alphonse said proudly, "He became a state alchemist when he was twelve, pretty impressive, huh?"

"I guess," The girl mumbled, "I'm not a big fan of the state, though… You know what? I bet I could beat you in a spar."

--

The whole thing was a disaster, a terrible, horrible disaster. The alchemist walked, side by side with his childhood friend, his head downcast so his bangs fell before his face. He wasn't about to look up, not even to check if he was about to run into a tree. No, it had been so bad, that Edward Elric was confined to staring at the ground. He didn't dare look at his friend beside him, it had just been too awkward to even bother. The only movement he made was to flicker his eyes up, clearly relieved, at the canary yellow house on the crest of the hill.

Finally.

It had just been too weird to even think about, and try as he might, he couldn't _stop_. The blonde's fist clenched at his side, and his teeth ground together in frustration, but his brain didn't seem to take the hint. So, instead of letting himself make a complete idiot out of himself any further, he continued ahead up the hill.

Which he was greeted by a pretty interesting scene in front of the Rockbell house. He tilted his head upward just enough to see Alice run at his brother, tackle him – Alphonse was, clearly, going easy on the thin girl – pin him to the ground and declare herself a winner. The girl got up, and then danced around in a completely idiotic fashion, though Al had only laughed good-heartedly, like he always did.

"Okay, okay, that's the seventh time," The boy said between chuckles.

"Aww, isn't she cute, Ed?" The boy jumped, unaware that Winry had caught up to him and was watching the two.

"She's dancing around like an idiot," He mumbled, crossing his arms. The girl beside him frowned.

"She's just a kid, Ed, go easy on her. She deserves to be happy,"

Winry waved, immediately gaining the attention of the youngest girl, who ran up to her and began interrogating. The two exchanged giggles as they walked inside, making Alphonse very curious as to what exactly happened during the day. The younger sibling got up from his position on the ground, dusted his shirt off, then walked to his brother.

"So how'd it go?" He asked good-naturedly, finding it hard to hide the slight mischievous tint to his voice. If everything had gone right in his little plan, then it'd take quite a bit of pestering to get the truth from his brother. Who knew that he, Alphonse Elric, could be so completely diabolical? Definitely not his older brother, that was for sure.

"Fine," The elder sibling replied quickly, a little too quickly for comfort, anyway. Quick enough to tell Alphonse that he'd have to do some prying.

"Aww, come on Brother," Alphonse said, clenching his fists in playful determination. "You know you won't be able to keep it from me for very long."

"I don't want to talk about it," Edward said, storming up the porch of the house. Alphonse, much to his dismay, was hot on his heels.

"I get it, you pushed Winry in the river again, didn't you Brother!" Al accused, chasing his brother up the stairs. He was thankful at the moment that Pinako wasn't there, or else he was sure the behavior would have been scolded. At the moment, however, finding out what happened seemed to take the number one spot on his list of priorities. So, of course, he had to find out, and use all means possible to do so.

"No, I didn't!" The short fused brother yelled, slamming the door of their shared room and locking it. Al only frowned.

"Brother, you're going to have to let me in sometime, you know," The boy said, not wanting to have to resort to alchemy to gain access to the room, and definitely not wanting to resort to sleeping on the couch. "Brother…"

--

"So what happened?" Alice asked interestedly, following Winry into the kitchen. The girl had been a little quiet, except for the few giggles they exchanged. Alice picked up the basket, unloading its contents before reaching to put it away.

"We went on a picnic," Winry weighed her words as she put the blanket away, Alice in hot pursuit. While the two were gone, she and Al had come to the conclusion that they would question each respectively, he got to question his brother, she got to question Winry, and they'd compare notes in the morning. It was fool proof, actually. If one blonde didn't admit the juicy details, then the other one would. Either way, the youngest teens were going to find out.

"I know," Alice replied, pulling out the contents for dinner. "But I couldn't help but notice that little confident look on your face… And not to mention, Ed _was_ blushing."

Winry went rigid for a second, her head turning ever so slowly to glance at the younger girl from over her shoulder. Alice blinked, but in a second, the blonde had turned around.

"You really want to know?" Winry asked girlishly, her voice teeming with the excitement to tell what had happened. Alice nodded, and the two engrossed themselves in the story of the afternoon, giggling and squeeing in unison.

"Really? He did?" Alice giggled, gathering the appropriate dishes for the small dinner Winry was making. The older blonde only nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I knew it! I knew something was going to happen."

--

"Brother, it can't be that bad!" Alphonse protested, staring at the bedroom door. "Come on, stop being stupid."

"Yes it is." His older brother replied quietly. Al only frowned.

"Brother… If you don't open the door, I'm going to transmute it." The room was quiet, but Edward opened the door reluctantly. Al followed his older brother into the room, where the two sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Al?" Edward asked eventually, looking up at his brother.

"Yes, brother?" Alphonse replied obediently, hoping the boy across from him would finally tell him what was going on.

"She kissed me."

Al couldn't help but smiling inwardly at the success of his plan.

--

"He kissed you?" Alice asked, getting another nod from the blonde. "I thought he would."

"What?" Winry asked a little awkwardly, glancing at the smaller girl, who shrugged in response, her own mischievous smile crossing her lips.

"Al and I were taking bets."

Winry had to hold herself back from attacking the girl, but eventually just smiled a little sheepishly. "That obvious, huh?"

"Mmhm."

The two welcomed Pinako home when she returned later, telling her there was dinner already made and on the stove. The older woman made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a 'hmph' and walked into the kitchen. Alice had told Winry about all the cleaning she'd done, and Winry had thanked her, beckoning her off to bed. Alice, a little unhappy at the prospect of being told when to sleep, climbed up the stairs hesitantly, but without verbal reluctance. She slid into her room, crawling into her bed, and was out five minutes later.

As everything else in the house slowed, and everybody else had gone to bed, her door cracked open and the youngest Elric tiptoed in, shaking the small girl's shoulder gently. The girl stirred, then threw her hand at his face, fingers hooked so that her nails would come at him. The boy had to hold back a laugh as he grabbed her wrist to prevent her goring his face. The girl fidgeted, then peeked an eye open, looking at the boy.

"Shh, it's a surprise," Was all he said as he helped her up, motioning with his head to the door.

--

**Other:** Wow, uhh, eight pages. xD I never write eight pages! Be thankful. And… I figured I might as well get some nice happy stuff in before the story takes a turn for the decidedly evil bit of my decidedly evil plot. Hm… Kind of a cliffie, I guess? Not really… Okay, well, yeah, it won't take me two weeks to update this time, I promise! Heh, I get to keep my right hand, too!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA. :3

**Other:** Urgh, I've been doing CSS stuff forever (urgh, sidebars), and have been working on an RPG that's based around the futuristic corruption of the US government and experiments to create ultimate assassins. Pretty crazy, and to top it off, I'm ill. Anyway, here's chapter eight.

**Edit:** There were sooo many typos in the chapter I had to fix them. :3

--

**Catalyst**

Chapter Eight:

Autumn was starting to show it's true colors, and the sunny days were no more. It was amazing how quickly a sunny week could turn into a rainy one, and even more amazing how little girls could turn up missing almost as quickly as the weather could change. Winry had been swamped with work when Monday rolled around, and she was quietly wishing that she had some help. Pinako aided her, but hung around the front of the house, helping the customers more. She had three surgeries scheduled, and that just added to Winry's stress.

Needless to say, the pounding rain on the arched ceiling wasn't helping matters at all. The rain was relaxing, and she'd always liked observing it from the comfort of the indoors. But down in the basement, it was neither warm nor comfortable, and instead was foreboding. The cold grey walls seemed to suck what little energy she had right out of her, and the steady thumping of the rain made her sleepy. And yet, despite this, she still found herself with two arms, three legs, and a few surgeries to attend.

"Shit," She swore under her breath as she looked around for her wrench. "Where did I put that thing…" Talking to herself more than anybody in the empty room, she got up to search for the tool she had somehow misplaced. Alice had been very absent in the earlier hours of the morning, which was putting chores behind considerably. Al was trying to pick up the slack, but without the other pair of hands, his attempts were taken mainly in vain.

"Ow!" The teen whispered sharply, having stubbed her toe on the sharp corner of a toolbox. Glaring down at the dented red metal, she knelt and opened the box, searching for the right sized wrench. Oh how she wanted one of those newer ones with the adjustable sizes! But her budget nor her schedule would allow her a trip to Rush Valley to go find one. "I wish Alice were here," She mumbled, looking briefly around the messy room. Alice was always sure to keep it tidy, and help Winry avoid those nasty stubs she got when she was in the basement, but the girl had upped and disappeared. Sure, Winry had gotten used to her disappearances, it seemed at least twice a day she'd go off without explaining herself, and she was never in anybody's sight for more than six hours at once, but Winry had just figured it was her need to roam, a situation that Ed was suffering from as well. Alice's disappearances usually only lasted for an hour or two, if even that long – but now it was going on four, and Winry was starting to get a little worried.

"Stop it," She mumbled, "You don't have time to worry." Logically, she'd figured the girl must have gone out on a walk and had gotten lost. Even though she reminded herself that Alice had hated the rain – a fact found out earlier in her stay at the Rockbell house, when Winry had asked if she'd borrow some sugar from the neighbors. The girl hesitated, took a few steps outside, then ran in screaming bloody murder. The girl had taken a liking to watching droplets roll down the windowpanes, but after that situation, when asked to go outside when it was raining – or even afterwards, when "the air was misty and wet" as she put it – she would refuse strongly and instead busy herself with something else. So, it was highly irrational that the girl was out in the middle of one of the biggest storms of the year.

With a sigh, Winry found the wrench she was looking for and trudged back to the arm she was working on. It was only three quarters finished, and she still had the other two arms and the other few legs – not to mention those surgeries and their prepping – to do. And she only had until Friday to get them all done. "It's amazing how farmers can manage to lose limbs," She said with an air of frustration as she sat back down ot her mechanics, "You think they'd be more careful after seeing what those machines can do…"

But it wasn't her place to judge, it was her place to help make people's lives easier with automail, so she set about to working on the arm with more vigor than before.

--

Al hated it, and there were very few things that Al hated. It had been four hours since he'd went to go look for Alice, and he had no idea where she was. She wasn't outside, because the whole household knew how much the young girl dreaded the rain, and he'd searched the whole house. Neither seemed to harbor the young, tawny-haired girl, which was making Al unhappy.

It wasn't really the fact that her chores were put on his shoulders as well, but rather the fact that he didn't know where she was, which was worrying him the most. She did have that odd habit of just leaving every so often, but this was ridiculous and definitely out of character. Not to mention Resembool had just gotten more word about the chimeras that were loose. A farmer at the edge of the rural town had admitted that he had to shoot a creature that was threatening his livestock, and what he had described was nothing short of a dog-based chimera. And if there were chimeras in Resembool… Al frowned at the idea of Alice going missing at the most inopportune time she could possibly be.

--

Edward sat in bed, staring blankly at the alchemy book propped up against his thighs. The grey light that seeped in through the curtains on the window had a stark contrast to the light of the single reading lamp on his nightstand, but it was oddly comforting. In cohorts with the rain, he supposed, but it was enough to take his attention off of the book at hand and instead to the most recent happenings. Alice was gone, Al had told him a few hours ago, but he didn't really care. He didn't like that little girl much, there was just something weird about her. And disappearing all the time wasn't helping the suspicion, either. But it was that situation that had completely left his mind, and instead was replaced with the memories of the day before, the picnic, to be exact.

For picnics, it was fairly run of the mill, Winry and him had talked about a few things, how nice the weather was, when he should get a new arm to match his leg, things of that general sort. They talked about chores, business, alchemy – rather one-sidedly from himself, but at least Winry had pretended to be interested – and then Winry turned it around and started talking about automail, and then she got mad at him for not listening. But as the sun started setting, things started getting more interesting. Winry looked almost sad, but not quite. She was staring out at the river with an almost nostalgic look in her blue eyes, and he had realized how pretty she was, sitting in the golden bask of the late afternoon sun, the thin strips of light that reflected off of the river mirrored in her eyes… And pretty soon he found himself just watching her, admiring her beauty – how she was paler, not completely white, but how her own tan was lacking compared to his own. But yet she pulled it off, and it complemented her blonde hair.

"Remember when we used to do this as kids?" She had asked him, bringing up fond memories about their childhood, before everything had taken a turn for the sour. Back before her parents had died, and before his own mother got sick. When he, Winry, and Alphonse would come and play by the river in the same late-afternoon sun, and how they would complain about it being too early to go home. And even though they were young at the time, they had a mild understanding of how time would just slip away. Though their understanding was nothing next to the way they understood it now. The two had just sat in silence, watching the rays of light cascade off of the water and illuminate the patching grass around them, or the sandy shore.

He knew that Winry only wanted things to go back to the way they used to be, but he knew that was impossible. It was impossible for somebody like him, who had seen so much, to go back to those relatively carefree days, when the only worry was whether or not it would rain the next day, and if it did, would they still be able to go outside and play. No, the pieces would never fit back exactly, but that didn't mean they could work with what they got when they tried to piece it back together, right? Winry had been hopeful, and although he'd been skeptical about how it would all turn out, he silently agreed.

He wasn't entirely sure how it had started, or even who instigated it – everything was a blur, and the more he tried to pick apart the haze, the more his head started to throb – but the two had found themselves kissing. Looking back on it, he was sure Winry must have done it – because he wasn't about to do something so stupid – but then he started to question himself… He tried to pretend that it didn't happen shortly after the few seconds of bliss, but Winry only sent him a small smile and started packing up. All he remembered after that was not being able to meet his gaze.

But looking back on it, it hadn't been so bad, had it? Ever since then – even if it had been only a few hours, not even a full day yet – he couldn't help but smile a little. It was confusing, really, he'd always known he liked Winry, as a friend of course. He wouldn't really have known what to do if she'd gotten hurt, but that was what friends did, right? But now… Those chimeras that were loose were starting to piss him off, because now the threat of danger was back, and it was real. Sure, there were dangers around a house, but they were all minor. But a chimera could kill somebody – he forcefully held back a shudder at the thought of the chimera that had killed the three soldiers back in Central – and they were actually in Resembool. A frown creased his mouth as he stared blankly at the wall adjacent from him, eyes hardening at the thought.

A knock on his door, however, pulled him from his reverie and his mental ravings, and drew his eyes back to the book in a hurry, to try to mask his straying thoughts.

"Yeah?" He asked, not bothering to pry his eyes from the pages, despite the fact he wasn't reading.

"Brother?" Al's worried voice carried through the door. Edward's frown doubled, but he remained calm.

"Yeah? Come in."

The door creaked open and Alphonse slipped into the room, observing the situation his brother was in. "Brother you're going to go blind if you try to read with that much light," He scolded, his lips wearing their own frown.

"Yeah but you didn't come in here to tell me off for reading with this much light," Edward forced a small chuckle, his eyes observing his younger sibling, who seemed to remember his reason for coming in.

"Brother, I'm worried," This time Edward had to stifle a snort, "Really! Alice has been gone a long time, you know."

"She always pulls these disappearing acts, Al," Ed sighed, marking his page and closing his book, "She's probably ripping off one of the neighbors' pigs or something." Al's expression made him sigh, however, and shake his head again.

"I think we should go look for her, Brother," Al's grey eyes held a quiet plea that his voice did not, "It's not like her to stay out so long, and it's raining, and we both know she doesn't like the rain."

"I swear she's a freakin' cat," Ed mumbled, but stood up anyway, stretching life into his dormant muscles. "Okay, okay, where are we going to look?" He asked, his golden eyes turning serious. Alphonse beamed at his older brother, despite his worry, and listed the route he'd decided to take.

"Did you ask Winry if she wanted to come?" Al's expression darkened a little.

"She said she was going to be busy all day… But I could go ask her now, if you want." Alphonse offered, watching his brother carefully.

"I don't know, Al…" With the chimeras out there, Winry would be a prime target – a wrench could do little against an animal that wanted to dissect you.

"Another set of eyes could help," Alphonse stated, "And I'll keep an eye on her." Edward was starting to hate how his brother could seemingly read his mind. The younger Elric walked off to go ask the blonde if she wanted to join their search party, and the older one donned some protective clothing for the weather.

It had taken him a while, but eventually Winry agreed to joining them in search of Alice. Her worry, coupled with the fact that she'd made a reasonably sized dent in the majority of her work – she'd completely finished the arm and was almost halfway through wiring the second – had swayed her decision considerably. With a sigh, she grabbed her thick winter coat and pulled her hood up over her head, fretting with her hair the whole time. Al grabbed his own coat and headed out the door, keeping his elder brother and friend in tow.

The weather outside of the house was far worse than it had sounded. The rain was coming down in thick torrents, and everything faded into a uniform shade of grey. Even the neighbor's house, which was easily visible from the second story balcony was lost in the haze of the storm. Everything was wet, and the air was so thick and musty it was hard to breathe.

"Do you really think she's out in this?" Edward had to practically yell so his brother could hear him over the sharp wind. Alphonse only nodded, an act that Edward had to strain to see.

"Where else could she be, brother?" Defeated, Edward followed Al, keeping a close watch on Winry. Their route was simple; they were to head down by the river, scour the immediate edges of the forest near it, and trace up the boundaries of the town. If they could fit it into their schedule, they'd ask the neighbors if they saw her, or if they might have taken her out of the cold. It was fairly simplistic, but it held hopes of them actually finding the girl.

"Alice!" Winry called, cupping her hands around her mouth in hopes of her voice carrying farther. But with the high winds and the loud rain, she somehow doubted that it would. "Alice, where are you?"

Alphonse and Edward had taken up in the same actions Winry had, staggering their calls a few seconds apart. Their journey continued with slow progress, but progress none the less – even if the progression was limited to physical movement. Their calls were always swallowed up by the storm to help much, and the rain itself was beginning to make it harder to see any great distance around them. The thick mist constantly circled around them, leaving only a few feet of sight between the three.

"Alice!" Alphonse yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth in the same fashion Winry had. The minutes, however, were ticking by, and there was still no sign of the young girl. Before long, the three had made it down to the river, where the paused to rest.

"Urgh, it's so wet out here," Winry complained, pulling her hood tighter around her head. Despite the difficulty seeing much of anything in the weather, Edward had spotted the uncomfortable frown on her face. "And cold."

Though her words didn't seem to help Alphonse much, and instead he started straying away, still calling for the absent girl.

"Maybe we should wait until the storm dies down…?" Winry suggested, her blue eyes hazed by the fog, "We'd be able to actually _look_, and maybe she might even hear us." Edward simply nodded, glancing around for Alphonse.

"Yeah," He agreed, motioning for Winry to follow him as he went off after Al.

"B-Brother," Al's voice was shaky, but loud enough to hear in the onslaught around them. Edward's red flags went up at the tone of his brother's voice, and Al's figure came into view, backing slowly toward them.

"What's wrong, Al?" Edward asked, his voice stricken with a sharp worry. His brother slowly shook his head and made a motion to be quiet. As soon as he'd become level with the two, three more figures appeared in the fog, closing in on them. They stopped a few feet away, just inside their circle of vision.

Three particularly angry looking chimeras were surrounding them. Two were smaller and more fox-like in appearance, with long, thick wings sprouting from their shoulders and chests that protruded into an odd, unnatural looking point to support them. The third was rather simple looking, and didn't even look like a chimera at all, but instead a simple male lion, large, gruff, and obviously not very happy.

--

**Other:** Confused yet? Don't worry, everything will be resolved (like wtf is going on with Al being weird-ish) in the next chapter. Review.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA.

**Stuff:** DEAR GOD I AM SO SORRY. Okay, now that I've had my caps fix for today, I really am sorry. School sucks. Life… pretty much sucks. And I've been sitting on a half-finished chapter for who knows how long. Anyway! Here it is.

--

**Catalyst**

Chapter Nine:

The three chimeras closed in, the large lion apparently leading them. The fox-based chimeras lingered behind it, staying a good distance on either side from the feline, eyes locked on the brothers. Winry remained sandwiched between the two alchemists, who were sizing up the chimeras as well as the weather would allow.

Though through the hazy grey of the surrounding air, the lion – leading the two foxes – stopped in his tracks and watched the humans. Edward stared uncomfortably at the muscles underneath the tawny fur, which at the close distance were painfully visible. And even at the range, he couldn't find any traces of whatever animal it was fused to – its limbs were much too long for a lion's, particularly its hind legs, and its shoulders slumped forward unnaturally, but it wasn't enough to get a good reading on trying to figure out what the feline was fused with.

The beast's lips parted just enough for the faint grey light to catch on its teeth and turn them a startling ivory, exaggerating the sharp, already menacing appearance of the canines. Jaws opened wider, and its throat bobbed at the intake of breath. Exhaling, the lion made a painful sound that was almost completely unintelligible.

Winry screamed.

--

"That was much too easy," The man said, sitting on a long-abandoned crate at the edge of the cold, clammy room. It was raining again, and the pitter-patter's usually calm noise was enhanced by the remnants of the old hospital's tin roof. The woman, standing on the same side of the room, but in the other corner, shrugged apathetically. "And isn't it perfect that we have a Plan B now, hm, Lust?" The woman merely shrugged again.

A low, rumbling growl escaped the darkness at the far end of the rectangular room, betraying the third presence in the decaying room. The green-haired man made a small sound, an impatient hiss, before reaching a pale hand out, fumbling with the top of the crate with a few seconds before throwing a piece of the top at the other side of the room.

"Shut _up_!" He screamed as the plank hit the thick metal bars, breaking in two with a sickening snap. "Why do you keep _doing_ that?"

"She has to eat, Envy," The woman who was leaning up against the wall said calmly, "Or have you forgotten already?"

"_No_," The man said moodily, shifting on the crate, "I haven't forgotten, but does she have to make that horrible noise?"

The woman shook her head, "If you go get her something to eat, she'll stop."

Envy frowned, clenching a pale hand into a fist as he contemplated the pros and cons of going out in the rain to scrounge something up. He growled himself, rolling his violet eyes as he glanced upward at the large hole in the ceiling. In a quick flash of green, he jumped up and out of the building.

"What do you mean a Plan B?" The girl at the far side of the room asked, standing up so quickly she had to wait a moment for her head to clear before walking to the bars of the cage she was being kept in.

"You know very well what we mean by Plan B," Lust said, turning her head to look back at the girl in the cage. The remains of the hospital ceiling were crumbling between them, leaving the only chunks of ceiling above the woman and the caged girl.

The girl frowned, making her way to the bars of the cage before wrapping her small, thin hands around them, pulling and pushing with such a force that it jerked her entire body, but didn't even go so far as to make the bars vibrate.

"I'm sorry," The woman at the other end of the room said quietly, sympathetically, "It must not be very fair, the situation you're in. But you have to understand we need things, too."

"Did you have to put me in a cage, though?" The girl asked loudly, having to raise her voice against the pounding rain between them. The woman laughed sadly, but it died in her throat as she looked over to the girl, smiling sadly.

"Yes."

--

Winry's screaming was cut short by an earsplitting roar from the lion. The girl's vocals splintered feebly, and she clung tightly to Edward's flesh arm so tightly he could feel her nails through both his shirt and his jacket. The lion closed its mouth a fraction of an inch, its ribs moving in a labored rhythm at his sides.

"It… It just," The blonde said, her arms shaking from both the cold and the fear that was blooming inside of her, "It just… Oh _God_."

Edward's golden eyes were wide as he stared at the lion's shoulders, his mind calculating at an unhealthy speed, fueled by the nostalgic horror that was rising in his chest. Across from him, his brother wore the same expression on his face, although unlike him, Alphonse was starting to shake as well.

"No…" The blonde alchemist whispered, his words whipped away from him by the wind and carried past the insensitive human ears.

The lion's side heaved roughly and its jaw opened slowly, as if it were being controlled by a hand operated crank. "Yes." It said, the creature's voice slow like a young child's who was just beginning to speak, but rough and tormented, obviously an unnatural sound for the animal's vocal chords to create. Winry shook harder at his side, her eyes so wide that he could see the whites of them clearly through the grey haze.

"Where is she!" Winry screamed, shaking as she tried to push herself toward the lion. Edward caught her arm and held her in place, so she wouldn't tumble toward the chimera. "What the hell did you do with her?"

The lion remained quiet for a moment, struggling to make the right sound. It tried a few times, stuttering at first, before making its short sentence clearer. "Who?"

"Alice!" Winry yelled hysterically, her shaking body moving to the frantic pace of her voice. "What did you do with her? She's just a little kid!"

"Winry…" Edward said quietly, tugging on her arm gently, "We don't know if they did anything…"

But the largest chimera suddenly went rigid, and his awkward shoulders began to quiver as the muscles tensed, his brain obviously catching something that his throat was too slow to give words to. The fox-based chimeras on either side of him seemed to catch the drift as they spread their wings, the thick, dark feathers twitching against the wind as they glanced at each other for a half of a second, and within the second half, they'd leapt into the air and were tumbling through the heavy wind away from the small group.

"What?" The lion roared, it's natural instinct making its words. Its dark brown eyes landed accusingly on Alphonse as its claws dug into the mud beneath it. "Him!" It growled, jerking its nose upward toward the boy, "He had her!"

"What do you mean he had her?" Edward shot back, his voice defensive at the lion's almost unintelligible accusation. "He's been inside all day!" The lion took no heed to the blonde's words, and instead started stalking forward. At close range, Edward noticed the disjointed movement it made, forced by the unnaturally long limbs and their ill-fitting muscles.

"He had her," It growled again, its voice almost entirely undistinguishable from the animalistic sound.

"Al," Edward said quickly, pulling Winry's gripping fingers off of his arm before pushing her toward his brother. "Get Winry back inside." He yelled over the weather, bringing his hands forward in a clapping motion. Though the lion's dark eyes caught this and locked onto his arms as his body lunged awkwardly forward below him, powerful neck shooting his head forward as it caught Edward's metal arm. Alphonse didn't need to be told twice, and started back toward the house quickly with Winry.

--

"Here," The green-haired man said in a disgusted tone as he threw a parcel into the cage. He stared at the girl for a moment, his eyes mirroring his tone, "Gnaw on that for a while."

The girl eyed the parcel carefully, scrutinizing the brown paper that was soaked from the rain outside. Though the smell of whatever inside was overpowering, and forced the girl to walk slowly toward it from the back corner of her cage. She knelt down and unwrapped it quickly before giving the contents a look not unlike Envy's.

"You expect me to eat this?" She gasped, kicking the brown papered parcel away from herself. She rubbed at the gooseflesh appearing on her arms from the cold in the air – the ground was wet and cold, and the air wasn't much different, and she _hated_ it. And now they expected her to eat like a dog?

"Eat it." Envy growled, glaring down at the tawny-haired girl. "Or I'll make you wish you had."

"No!" She screamed in disgust, glaring down at the hunk of raw meat. "I can't eat that, it's unhealthy!"

The man closed his eyes as if he was trying to calm himself, pressing his lips together in a hard line as he smiled to himself, making a half-laughing sort of sound. "You can, and you will. Just wait."

Alice stared, horrified, at the man for a moment as the woman in the corner glanced at the wall and rolled her eyes.

**Other:** Oh god I am so sorry this took forever! And it pretty much sucks anyway, but at least you have something now. Urgh, don't kill me, I swear I won't make you wait this long again.


End file.
